Help me build a budget PC!

R

redice

n00b
Joined
Sep 24, 2007
Messages
36
I've been out of the loop for over a year..tell me whats good!

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

Normal everyday PC using for an adult (this PC is not for me). Work such as documents, internet browsing, cd burning (MP3 cds), and light gaming (when I say light, I mean mostly play sports games...and want a PC capable of playing current games at a good rate).
Don't need a HDD over 500GB. Would prefer quad processor.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

$700 w/ tax + shipping

3) Where do you live?

US

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.

Need everything except Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, and Speakers

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, and Speakers

6) Will you be overclocking?

No overclocking

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?

Plan to reuse old 19" Flat CRT

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

Within the next couple of weeks

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.

Basic necessities (none of the above)

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?

Might need to purchase OS. (not included in budget)


Let me know what you guys can come up with using my budget. Thanks to everyone for the help!!
 
GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128357 $53

Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E5200 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072 $73

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122 $45

Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218 $70

LITE-ON Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM SATA 22X DVD Burner - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106287 $22

SAPPHIRE 100245L Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770 $145

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042&Tpk=antec 300 $60

BFG Tech LS SERIES LS-550 550W Continuous @ 40°C ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.8 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817702008 $80

Total before S&H $548
 
....nicely done, lt_shiro.....:cool:

Call me old school but for $7.50 I usually always throw in a floppy drive. If you only use it once to flash the BIOS it's almost worth it. I hate 'em but I still use mine occasionally.

The good news is that they are hella cheap.....:p
 
Thanks for the setup!! I was thinking of going with a Intel E8400, is that overkill for my purposes?
 
Also, I would recommend bumping that 4850 down to a 4830. It can be had for $95 and has a $20 rebate making it $75 after rebate. Great price/performance ratio and can be overclocked to perform very close to the 4850, saving you money.

redice said:
Thanks for the setup!! I was thinking of going with a Intel E8400, is that overkill for my purposes?
Click to expand...

E8400 probably is. If you want, you can go with the E7200 for $120.

BlindedByScience said:
....nicely done, lt_shiro.....:cool:

Call me old school but for $7.50 I usually always throw in a floppy drive. If you only use it once to flash the BIOS it's almost worth it. I hate 'em but I still use mine occasionally.

The good news is that they are hella cheap.....:p
Click to expand...

In modern times, we can use usb flash drives to flash the BIOS. Besides that, I see absolutely no point in having a floppy... ;)
 
I cant remember the last time i used a floppy drive. Unless you have some old floppies lying around..

Personally I think the floppy drive is the ugliest part on a computer. If you can avoid it, avoid it!
 
if you really want a floppy id say get a usb floppy

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16821118001

1 you can hide it!
and 2 you can use it on any machine!!!

Sure it costs a bit more (3x the price...) but like i said above you can hide it!!! (might make you look a bit younger?

BTW im not trying to mock you just making a point most new boards have bois flashes from while inside the OS, so you run the thing it stores it somewhere and reboots and flashes the bios. (I know my old gigabyte and new ones both do this!) Otherwise I belive you can now do it from a USB drive as well!

Otherwise here is a good build!

DVD: Samsung - $19 (in cart...)
CASE: Antec 300 - $60
HD: Western Digital 640GB - $70
GPU: Saphire 4850 512MB - $145 + $10 MIR
PSU: CORSAIR 400Watt - $60 + $10 MIR
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 - $45
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX - $53
CPU: Intel 8400 3.0Ghz - $165

Subtotal: $621.88
Tax: $45.09 (95822)
Shipping: $26.22
Grand Total: $693.19
 
redice in your op you mentioned that you would prefer a quad core yet no one has shown a build with one? Did I miss somthing here? You are certainly within budget so teh slight increase would definitely get you that quad core which would future proof your system for a while. Not that the c2d's like the e8400 are weak in any way, they are very strong for sure.
 
Nothing he is doing will take advantage of one. The E8400 is more then enough.
 
I personally don't see the need for the e8400. Photoshop is doesn't need that fast of a CPU.
 
Really there is no need for a quad, UNless he is doing massive video compiling and editing.

Or using some very expensive programs that would need a bigger budget computer...

Basically the E8400 has more than enough power to last him a while and is half the price of most 45nm quad cores!

I have never seen where a quad core would help in these situations... The only reason I could see is if he was running dual 30" monitors and had 2 graphics cards in sli or crossfire. In that case the CPU would be the limiting factor or the ram im not sure which...
 
I frequently use Photoshop, Elements, and Lightroom 64-bit and my E6750 + 4GB of ram runs those programs just fine.
 
redice said:
I am trying to avoid overclocking...any other recommendations?
Click to expand...

Even at stock speeds, the E5200, E5400, E7200, E7300, and E7400 are all fine for the builds intended uses.

Did you consider a pre-built? Current deals posted on gotapex.com...
Dell Small Business - Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower Desktop with Core 2 Duo E7400 Processor, 3GB Memory, 250GB HD, DVD Burner and 19" LCD Monitor for $399!

Thanks to a $270 instant discount, for $399, get a Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower with 2.8Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 processor, 3GB of DDR2 SDRAM, 250GB hard drive, 16x DVD+/-RW double layer burner, Windows Vista Home Basic, and a 19" widescreen Dell S1909WXF LCD monitor (change to it for FREE during configuration). Upgrade to $499+ and get FREE shipping too. Taking it up to a 22" widescreen monitor and 320GB hard drive takes you right to that mark. Expires 3/4/09. DELL VOSTRO 220 MINI TOWER DESKTOP DEAL

* Update: The $489 (after $286 instant discount) Dell Optiplex 360 with Core 2 Duo E7300 processor, 3 year warranty, and 20.1" widescreen Dell E2009W LCD is a good deal too. DELL OPTIPLEX 360 MINI TOWER DEAL
Click to expand...

Toss in an HD4670 or 9600GT and either of those systems would be good bang for buck.
 
i built one 225$ foxcon 775 mobo dual core
4 gigs ram and nice psu its in a foster home
all the kids on one PC they haven't killed yet.
they had a thing ruining windows 95.

well 20 kids one pc its stil running just fine.
mrs got all kids school marks now.
i found a old laser printer called her up she came with 1/2 ton
we loaded it up took it over and kids carried it up to pc room
took several kids to carry it they paper tray took 5x500 sheets of paper to fill it
i asked were the old p2 wentoo she said to dump
and took me over to jar and it was for another pc
she said u won't mind building one more eh i said no u buy one il build two
 
backwoods said:
i built one 225$ foxcon 775 mobo dual core
4 gigs ram and nice psu its in a foster home
all the kids on one PC they haven't killed yet.
they had a thing ruining windows 95.

well 20 kids one pc its stil running just fine.
mrs got all kids school marks now.
i found a old laser printer called her up she came with 1/2 ton
we loaded it up took it over and kids carried it up to pc room
took several kids to carry it they paper tray took 5x500 sheets of paper to fill it
i asked were the old p2 wentoo she said to dump
and took me over to jar and it was for another pc
she said u won't mind building one more eh i said no u buy one il build two
Click to expand...

:confused:
 
that was hard to understand lol...

something about building a cheap PC for $225 and something about a printer and building another computer... Thats about all I got...
 
tdktank59 said:
that was hard to understand lol...

something about building a cheap PC for $225 and something about a printer and building another computer... Thats about all I got...
Click to expand...

lol, i think you got a bit more than i did.
 
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